X-RAY SPEX 1976 -1978

ONCE UPON A TIME...

It was in the hot summer of 1976 that Poly Styrene placed an advert
in the British music papers NME and MELODY MAKER which started with the
grabbing header of ‘YOUNG PUNX WHO WANT TO STICK IT TOGETHER’.
The ad worked like a magic magnet. Jak Airport, Lora Logic and Paul Dean
were first through the doors to audition. Poly thought they were talented plus cute, perfect for the X-RAY SPEX
dream.
X-RAY SPEX gave their debut performance at London's Roxy in Covent Garden after just six rehearsals in their manager's front room. Energy galore, but a little shambolic - as can be heard on the LIVE AT THE ROXY album. Despite much excitement and days in which their schedule was busier than any one member of the royal family would tolerate, Lora left the band in favour of school.
The gang then extended to become:

POLY STYRENE The voice The dreamerThe pen pusher Leader of the pack

LORA LOGIC - The School Girl - Essential Departure

Born Susan Whitby, the daughter of a German Jewish father and
a Finnish mother, the family had Anglicized their foreign-sounding surname, so they
would not suffer racism in the UK.
Lora grew up in the middle class suburbs of Pinner in Middlesex.
She was barely fifteen and at a public girls school when she auditioned
for X-RAY SPEX.
The saxophone was her extra curriculum hobby. Lora played on one
early X-RAY SPEX record only, the infamous OH BONDAGE UP YOURS! and I AM A CLICHE.
Due to Lora's mother being a school teacher, the emphasis on Lora
was to finish her education.
X-RAY SPEX needed to find a saxophonist who would be able to tour.
Lora went back to school and then on to form her band ESSENTIAL
LOGIC.
She has recorded many albums under this name. Lora was always
a bit embarrassed, when her mother turned up at the Roxy Club wearing fur and pearls.
It wasn't quite the punky image she projected, her glamorous mother
looked like she was attending the wrong venue. The Royal Opera House would
have seemed more appropriate.
Although Lora always referred to her mother as a peasant, because
she was born a Finnish country girl.

JAK AIRPORT - Star guitarist - Heart breaker

Born Jack Stafford. Grew up in the Kentish suburb of South East
London known as Catford. Raised single-handedly by his Anglo-German mother.

Jak was very good friends with the glam rock band Japan, but Jak
sacrificed his glam looks and locks to join X-RAY SPEX. Jak called his flying V guitar ‘Candy
Darling’ after a character in an Andy Warhol movie.
Jak gave a very unique sound to X-RAY SPEX with great riffs that
Poly loved.
The beginning riff of THE DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO is a Jak
Airport classic.
When X-RAY SPEX split, Jak formed AIRPORT AND DEAN, he recorded
songs BLONDE DARLING and FLYING, co-written and performed with Paul
Dean.
The music press thought Jak Airport was somewhat unusual for a
punk rock guitarist, as when interviewed he revealed, that his musical tastes included
DEBUSSY and KRAFTWERK.
Poly often told him of her love of WAGNER, which influenced his
choice of power chords in Spex, which led X-RAY SPEX to being, described as Power Pop by CHAS
DE WHALLY from the British music paper SOUNDS in October 1977.
They were in fact, one of the first Punky New Wave bands.
Sadly Jak is no longer on planet earth. Jak Airport left his body
and this mortal world in 2004.

PAUL DEAN - Thumping bass - GBH attitude

Grew up in St Albans in Hertfordshire, the son of a Polish Refugee
who had escaped the Nazis during World War II. "Paul was
not a flashy bass player," says Poly,
"but had good pop sensibilities and was always happy to
experiment with sound and played some good
dub reggae influenced bass lines on WARRIOR IN WOOLWORTHS and
GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS."
His punky feel was also undeniably good. Paul Dean played at every
X-RAY SPEX event (apart from the Brixton Academy in 1991) and on every recording
that has ever been branded as X-RAY SPEX. Paul, always seen, as the quite shy member of the
band. Helped form the dependable core, the nucleus. Never late
or missed a rehearsal, as he always arranged for his girlfriend(s)
to meet him at the studio. Which seemed to enhance his charm as a bit of lady killer.

RUDI THOMPSON - Sax appeal - Bubble gum fun

Born Steve Thompson in Australia in the early nineteen sixties.
The son of an Aussie Doctor, who came to London to make his fortune
as a male fashion model.
Poly's pet name for Steve was Rudi, after the famous reggae song
A MESSAGE TO YOU, RUDI.
Rudi was often in the audience at SPEX gigs and had heard through
the grapevine that the band were looking for a new saxophone player, due to Lora's
school commitment.
Somehow he managed to get backstage and say "Hi!" to
Poly and tell her that he played the Sax and that he had grown tired of modelling, as people assumed he
was just a pretty face.
Poly invited him to a rehearsal and he joined the gang fast. He
worked very hard,
but still managed to make the sax sound like fun and bubble gum.
Rudi played on all SPEX dates and tours, and was signed to EMI
along with the other band members.
During the recording of X-RAY SPEX's first album GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS,
their manager Falcon Stuart brought in another saxophonist, TED
BUNTING, one of his public school boy chums from GT MOORE AND THE REGGAE
GUITARS.
Falcon asked him to overdub a sax riff on IDENTITY and DAY THE
WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO and two tracks. It is in fact TED BUNTING's saxophone that features on these
TED BUNTING was obviously a very slick player, with years of experience, but this move on the part of their manager, made Rudi very insecure.
Unfortunately this was the beginning of the break up of X-RAY SPEX.
Rudi penned and recorded his own song ORIGINS ARE SUSPECT and then disappeared
along with BP HURDING, who had also been writing and had co-written BETTY DAVIES EYES.

BP HURDING - D-r-r-rums - Big smile Brave heart

BP was the only child of elderly parents, who were true Brits from London.
SPEX had two Paul's in the band and as BP towered above everybody else,
he became affectionately known, as BP: Big Paul.
Poly led the press to believe the abbreviation stood for British Petroleum,
being sensitive, as she too was a bit on the plump side. BP grew up in North London, and
was the youngest member of the band. He was a roadie for a while, but
when he expressed a desire to be a drummer his parents bought him a huge
drum kit and paid for lessons.
It was a pretty big present for a fourteen year old. Poly first spotted
BP in another punk band, he gave her some pictures of the band, because he was looking for a manager.
She thought he was perfect for X-RAY SPEX and very naughtily poached
him for the SPEX line-up. BP Hurding was an excellent drummer, had a great personality and his
own following, he was an amazing young talent. BP and Poly really bonded as they were
both covered in puppy fat and both had grown up in inner city London.
BP always chauffeured Poly around town, in his beat-up old white van.
BP's nickname for their Manager, Falcon Stuart, was 'Dad' - although
the rest of the band thought it was a bit of giggle. It created a bit
of rift between Falcon Stuart and X-RAY SPEX. It was a bit like the hippies, in the 1960's, who called anybody
who seemed to be in authority 'Grandad'.

Poly Styrene was sitting in her 'POLY STYRENE'
boutique in Beaufort Market, King's Road, when the manager of
local pub named MAN IN THE MOON came in and picked up a snazzy, slim-line, day-glo
tie. His focus, however, was on the girl with braces on her teeth: Poly.
Having read in the local Chelsea newspaper that Poly also had
a band,
this entrepreneur offered a residency at MAN IN THE MOON, the
now infamous World's End pub
and theatre space in Chelsea between Vivienne Westwood's notorious
shop then named Seditionaries
and Beaufort Market. The answer was "Y-E-S."
X-RAY SPEX Played every Wednesday night, on the lower ground floor
of MAN IN THE MOON,
thus making them a very tight band. Admission was a mere £2
to cover costs.
They soon became the darlings of the arty Chelsea set, a handful
of music journalists... and
fans who'd spotted them early on. Poly also gave other bands a
break at MAN IN THE MOON,
among them ADAM AND THE ANTS, THE SWANK and ANNIE LENNOX AND THE
TOURISTS.
X-RAY SPEX started to get a following as they played small venues
all over the UK.
Word had spread about the fresh appeal and raw power, which resulted
in a
swift signing to Richard Branson's Virgin Records for a one-off
single,
the infamous OH BONDAGE UP YOURS!.

SWEETNESS AND ROTTEN...

Poly Styrene remembers Rotten's envy, when X-RAY SPEX later signed
to EMI as the Sex Pistols had been dropped, for upsetting Her Majesty
by depicting the Queen of England on the front cover of their single GOD SAVE THE QUEEN with a safety
pin rammed through her nose with a lyric declaring:
‘She made you a moron
She ain't no human being’
JOHNNY said to Poly, "At least you're on a proper label", as Virgin were then viewed as a successful independent and 'cool' company.

FAST FORWARD TO FAME...

X-RAY SPEX made several television appearances in the UK and Europe.
Poly gave interviews on the radio, but X-RAY SPEX at the time were not considered to have a radio-friendly
sound.
Their following mainly came from their live performances. They
did play live on the John Peel sessions, however, a highly-esteemed Radio One late night show that had
more of an underground appeal.

NEW YORK, NEW WAVE...

X-RAY SPEX got lucky, playing twice a night for two weeks at CBGB'S
in New York City.
Many of the New York New Wave set turned out in style.
Among them members of BLONDIE and RICHARD HELL from the VOIDOIDS,
who wanted to date Poly, but her heart was elsewhere.

OSMONDS?

On returning to the UK, the venues got bigger and bigger, culminating
in a tour of all the Odeons in the UK, with Hammersmith Odeon as the Grand Finale.
The drummer from the SEX PISTOLS, PAUL COOK, and KEITH MOON of
THE WHO, were often spotted at the front of stage checking out the competition.
MOON, the wild man of drums would be sweating amongst the pogoing kids,
shouting out "Osmonds!"

VINYL SENSATIONS

X-RAY SPEX released several singles throughout '77 and '78:

OH BONDAGE, UP YOURS!/I AM A CLICHE

THE DAY THE WORLD TURNED DAY-GLO/I AM A POSEUR

IDENTITY

GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS

The album: GERMFREE ADOLESCENTS

Original track listing:
Art-I-Ficial
Obsessed With You
Warrior in Woolworths
Let's Submerge
I Can't Do Anything
Identity
Genetic Engineering
I Live Off You
I Am A Poseur
Germ Free Adolescents
Plastic Bag
The Day The World Turned Day-Glo

CUT AND PASTE...

X-RAY SPEX often changed their line-up until they finally all gelled
with each other.
Other line-ups included GLYN JOHNS on sax and RICH T on drums,
who were great... but somewhat older than the rest of the crew. In the final line-up
everybody felt musically equal due to age and experience, which
was very little. "It was a little like being in the last year
of school together," says Poly, "gigging alongside. Jak, Paul, Rudi and BP. Similarly as at the
end of school term, the time had come to say good bye."